[Vision2020] 050604 Mercury News: Iraqis not the Only Ones Sexually Humiliated at Abu Ghraib

[Art Deco aka W. Fox]

Posted on Thu, May. 06, 2004



Fremont soldier dismays comrades
IRAQ: HE IS ACCUSED OF TAKING PHOTOS OF FEMALE SOLDIERS IN THE SHOWER
By Lisa Fernandez
Mercury News

American military personnel are professionals, fighting for liberty and justice.
They're not supposed to snap digital photos of their naked colleagues in the
shower.

"The public holds us up to a higher standard, and absolutely, we feel the need
to meet that standard,'' said Sacramento-based National Guard Major Denise
Varner. So, it's a little more disappointing when someone is accused of
something that may reflect negatively on us all.''

Myrna Hernandez, 26, of Antioch told the Contra Costa Times in an article
published Tuesday that Capt. Leo V. Merck, 32, of Fremont, the former commander
of Pittsburg's 870th Military Police Company, peered under the door Nov. 12
where she and two other female soldiers were taking an afternoon shower. She
told the newspaper the National Guard commander took photos that were found on
his government-issued digital camera.

The alleged event took place at the Abu Ghurayb prison, the same Baghdad-area
facility where Saddam Hussein tortured his enemies, and where recent photos have
surfaced of U.S. jailers laughing at Iraqi prisoners who were forced to simulate
sex acts with each other.


Sent to Kuwait

Merck, an accountant in private life, was stripped of his command and sent to
Army headquarters in Kuwait to await a court-martial, the Contra Costa Times
reported.
He returned this week to the United States to be discharged from the force, said
Lt. Col. Doug Hart of the California National Guard.

It remained unclear Wednesday whether Merck was court-martialed or struck a deal
to avoid it, he said. Depending on the kind of discharge, Merck could lose some
or all of his retirement benefits.
Varner said Lt. Michael Drayton of Sacramento took over Merck's command in
November, the same month Hernandez's accusation surfaced.

Merck enlisted in the North Dakota Army National Guard in 1989. He earned a
bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of North Dakota, where he
also got a master's degree in business administration in 1997. He was deployed
to Iraq in November 2003 and has no ``negative administrative actions.'' Public
records show Merck lived at various addresses in Fremont, San Jose and North
Dakota. No one from his Fremont address returned phone calls, and relatives in
North Dakota refused to comment.

Charges like those leveled at Merck taint the reputation of anyone wearing a
U.S. uniform, said 1st Sgt. Thomas A. Mills, who manages eight recruiting
offices in the East Bay. "I find it disgusting. Absolutely disgusting,'' Mills
said in a Fremont recruiting office. "People who hear about this stuff want to
categorize the great majority of us that way, but it's completely the
opposite.''

Mills is sure that this is an isolated incident, despite stories from some 870th
members back from Pittsburg who reported to the Oakland Tribune this week that
they worked 12-hour shifts and observed colleagues doing drugs or talking of
suicide.

"It's unfortunate that when you have a large group of people, you're bound to
have a bad apple in the group,'' Mills said.

Military personnel must follow the rules of the Uniform Code of Military
Justice, which instructs them how to behave or face serious punishment, such as
being stripped of office, court-martialed and facing jail time. Military
officials say they are updated each year, sometimes even twice a year, on sexual
harassment.

"And it's not just between women and men,'' Mills said. `"But about the rank
structure. You can't use your position to manipulate people.''


Air Force problems

One Department of Defense survey found about 18 percent of women cadets were
sexually assaulted at least once in the Air Force, including nearly 12 percent
of those in the class of 2003. Another Department of Veterans Affairs survey
found one-third of female service members deployed during Desert Storm and
Desert Shield suffered physical sexual harassment, and 13 of 160 respondents
reported sexual assault, 10 times the civilian rate during that period.

At a Congressional Women's Caucus hearing, Rep. Jane Harman, D-El Segundo, said:
"I am deeply disturbed by the reports of women serving in the military who have
been sexually assaulted and the prevalence of these assaults, particularly in
combat theater in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. Moreover, the way in which the
military handled many of these cases and treated alleged victims is equally
appalling. . . . It is time for the military's zero tolerance attitude towards
sexual assault to become its true standard, not just empty rhetoric.''


The Contra Costa Times and Mercury News Staff Writer Thaai Walker contributed to
this report. Contact Lisa Fernandez at lfernandez@mercurynews.com or (510)
790-7313.